Nursing home chain settles federal case for $28M

Nursing home chain settles federal case for $28M
Arbors of Sylvania named in agreement

Arbors of Sylvania named in agreement

Issues regarding nursing home liability may arise in case of personal injury or wrongful death of a resident of the nursing home or a visitor to a nursing home.



A nursing home, or its owner, can be held liable under general principles of tort law for negligent acts or omissions respecting the care of residents.  In an action for injuries negligently inflicted on a resident of a nursing home by a home's owner or operator or its employees, the injured plaintiff must plead and prove the traditional elements of negligence:

1. The defendant owed a duty of care to the plaintiff;
2. The defendant breached or violated that duty;
3. The plaintiff sustained injury; and
4. There was a causal connection between the defendant's conduct and the resulting injury.

In a wrongful death action, it is not necessary to prove that a decedent would have survived if not for the defendant's negligence. It has been held that if a defendant accelerates a decedent's death by even an hour, minutes, or seconds, it may be liable for such death, and if a defendant's negligence caused the decedent additional pain and suffering, it could be liable to decedent's estate.



Liability may arise because of negligent personal supervision and care, negligent maintenance of premises, or negligent selection or maintenance of equipment.



A nursing home is liable under the doctrine of respondeat superior for any tortious acts of its employees that are committed within the scope of the employee's duties. To prove such liability, the injured resident must show that at the time of the infliction of his or her injuries the employee of the home was acting on its behalf and performing services in the furtherance of its business.



If you believe that you or someone you love has been injured as a result of a nursing home's negligence, contact me for a free consultation.

Pharmaceutical Liability

 Pharmaceutical Liability

Moore v. Covenant Care Ohio, Inc., 2014-Ohio-4113

In Moore v. Covenant Care Ohio, Inc., 2014-Ohio-4113, the Ohio Supreme Court reversed the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas in Toledo, Ohio. This case was a wrongful death case involving a nursing home resident who ended up with a pulmonary embolism as a result of her medications for blood clots not being properly dispensed. The providers of medical services, including the providers dispensing pharmaceuticals, have a duty to provide pharmaceutical services to the patient and a duty to exercise reasonable care in providing the pharmaceutical services and in the dispensing and labeling of medicines. The breach of this duty can result in pharmaceutical liability under Ohio wrongful death law. In this case, the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas in Toledo, Ohio had granted a motion for summary judgment and also excluded a pharmacy expert’s report and the Court of Appeals reversed and allowed the opinion from the expert and said that there were factual issues remaining and that summary judgment was not proper.